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Iraqi PM calls for timetable for US troop withdrawal

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said on Monday his country wants some type of timetable for a withdrawal of US troops included in the deal the two countries are negotiating.

It was the first time that al-Maliki has explicitly and publicly called for a withdrawal timetable — an idea opposed by US President George W. Bush.

He offered no details. But his national security adviser, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, told reporters the government was proposing a timetable conditioned on the ability of Iraqi forces to provide security.

The White House said it did not believe al-Maliki was proposing a rigid timeline for US troop withdrawals.

“Any agreement would not have any hard timetables for withdrawal, but could include the desire by the US and Iraq to withdraw troops based on conditions on the ground,” US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

“I know that Prime Minister al-Maliki has said that he doesn’t want a precipitous withdrawal because of the security consequences,” Johndroe said in Toyako, Japan, where Bush is attending the G8 summit.

Al-Maliki said in a meeting with Arab diplomats in Abu Dhabi that his country had also proposed a short-term interim memorandum of agreement rather than the more formal status of forces agreement the two sides have been negotiating.

The memorandum “now on the table” includes a formula for the withdrawal of US troops, he said.

“The goal is to end the presence [of foreign troops],” al-Maliki said.

Some type of agreement is needed to keep US troops in Iraq after a UN mandate expires at the end of the year. But many Iraqi lawmakers had criticized the government’s attempt to negotiate a formal status of forces agreement, worried that US demands would threaten the country’s sovereignty.

US officials have said little publicly about the negotiations.

Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, did not comment directly on the specifics when asked about it on a trip to Baghdad.

“We’d all like to see US troops get out of here at some point in time,” Mullen said. “However, from a military perspective I need the laws and the regulations and the agreements from the government of Iraq in order to continue operations beyond the 31st of December of this year.”

With the latest moves, Iraq’s government appeared to be trying to blunt opposition in parliament to any deal.

Al-Maliki could also be trying to avoid parliament altogether. He has promised in the past to submit a formal agreement with the US to the legislative body.

But his spokesman indicated on Monday that the government might feel no need to get approval from parliament for a shorter-term interim deal.

Meanwhile, a roadside bomb killed four contractors and woun­ded eight others near the northern city of Mosul, the US military said yesterday.

The attack targeted a convoy south of the city at around 3:30pm on Monday, the military said.

It did not specify whether the contractors were Iraqis or foreigners, or whether they were security or civilian contractors.

Also on Monday, gunmen killed a member of the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party in Tal Afar, 418km northwest of Baghdad, police said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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